Basics of a Healthy Pregnancy
Pregnancy is a journey like no other. Here are some basics that will smooth the road for you and your baby. Start Early The best time to start planning for a healthy pregnancy is when you first start thinking about becoming pregnant. The sooner you start leading a healthier lifestyle, the healthier your baby will […]
How to Stay Positive on Your IVF Journey
You just learned that your IVF procedure hasn’t worked out. You had been so hopeful, and now you’re disappointed. That is a normal feeling that many, if not most, women experience. There are many ways you can do to help you go forward. Know that this is just temporary. An unsuccessful IVF procedure is only […]
Fertility Preservation for Couples – Embryo Banking
Fertility preservation adds a new degree of flexibility to family planning, better enabling couples to have children when they want to. With advances in fertility preservation, couples can postpone childbearing for any reason and still maintain their fertility for future years. In large part, it can halt the ticking of the biological clock. A woman’s […]
Do Fibroids Affect Fertility?
Fibroids can affect fertility more commonly than once thought and frequently co-exist in many patients with the diagnosis of infertility. The types of fibroids most likely to cause reproductive problems are large fibroids (diameter greater than 4 centimeters) or those that are located inside the uterine cavity regardless of their size. Because every case is […]
Egg Freezing and Banking
Egg freezing, sometimes called cryopreservation, is a way to extend a woman’s years of fertility. The freezing of fertile eggs can be used later on to start a pregnancy through in vitro fertilization. Freezing eggs can be particularly useful to women who want to delay childbearing or women whose eggs could possibly be damaged by […]
Should I test my embryos for BRCA gene mutation during my IVF cycle?
A recent announcement by Angelina Jolie has brought attention to BRCA gene mutation again and the increased risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer. She announced her “double mastectomy” to minimize the risk of developing breast cancer in the future. In the near future, she will also announce removal of her ovaries to minimize the […]
Celiac Disease, Gluten Allergy, Recurrent Miscarriage and Infertility:
Celiac disease is a chronic inflammatory disorder of the intestine with varying degrees of gluten intolerance and may be associated with recurrent miscarriage and infertility. Gluten insensitivity or allergy may not cause significant intestinal inflammation as in the case of celiac disease and its impact on fertility is most likely not significant. Common complaints with […]
Failed IVF cycle: What’s next?
It’s frustrating to get the “negative beta” call from the IVF coordinator/doctor after taking injections for a few weeks, undergoing egg retrieval, and embryo transfer. Whereas most IVF failures are due to the abnormalities of the embryos transferred, other variables have to be carefully looked at prior to the next attempt. Both the embryo and the […]
Egg Freezing No Longer Experimental
American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) announced today that there is now enough medical evidence to suggest that egg freezing is no longer an experimental technique for fertility preservation. The change in the labeling of egg freezing will most likely expand this option to more women considering fertility preservation. Egg freezing has been around since […]
Is amniocentesis becoming obsolete for Down’s syndrome screening?
A recently developed test called the Materni21 allows non-invasive screening for Down’s syndrome during early pregnancy simply from a blood draw from the mother. The test is being evaluated further by clinical trials for its reliability and accuracy, but the initial studies report promising results. It appears that fetal DNA is detectable in the maternal […]